There are a wide variety of pillows currently on the market. Most traditional pillows are made of fabric and are filled with materials such as feathers, down and polyester fiber. Traditional pillows generally take on an elliptical shape, but more recently, pillow manufacturers have begun offering traditional pillows with gusseted sides to add loft to the pillows in an effort to add support. However, due to both the shape and fill in such pillows, they are less than ideal in providing proper support to a user's head, neck and shoulder(s) during sleep. This can make for an uncomfortable night's sleep and may lead to physical problems such as neck and back pain, shoulder pain, headaches and general stiffness and tension in the neck and upper back areas. Over time, this may lead to more serious chronic and/or permanent conditions of the neck, spine or back. Traditional pillows are not designed to offer varying support in different areas.
In an effort to solve some of these problems, different types of support pillows have entered the market. The most common of these are contoured pillows made of a foam material, such as polyurethane foam, also known as memory or support foam. One of the disadvantages of these pillows is that while they may offer sufficient support for the neck and shoulders, they tend to be too firm in the area where the user's head rests and are therefore uncomfortable while sleeping for any length of time. Another disadvantage is that because these pillows are generally flat on the bottom and the contours are of different size, they cannot be flipped over or rotated and still maintain their intended purpose. Most of these pillows tend to be smaller than traditional pillows and therefore the user has a smaller surface on which to rest the user's head while sleeping. These pillows are not customizable and do not account for variations in the anatomical characteristics or comfort preference of different users.